Brethren begin Disaster Child Care and clean-up projects following Hurricane Katrina.

The Church of the Brethren's Disaster Child Care program and the General Board's Emergency Response/Service Ministries have begun projects in several areas as the Brethren response to Hurricane Katrina grows. In addition, two more grants have been given from the Emergency Disaster Fund, and trainings are being offered for more child care volunteers.

Disaster Child Care (DCC) began providing child care on Sept. 7 in three Red Cross Family Assistance Centers. The centers are providing services to displaced citizens who have been relocated to Grand Rapids, Mich.; Denver, Colo.; and Kingwood, W.Va. Plans are underway to deploy child-care volunteers to Wichita, Kan.; Cleveland, Ohio; and Pensacola and Gulf Breeze, Fla.

"In order to expand our pool of Disaster Child Care volunteers for this large response, we will be adding training events to the schedule," said Helen Stonesifer, DCC coordinator. Information on training events is available at www.disasterchildcare.org.

Brethren Disaster Response will begin a clean-up project on Sept. 13 in the Southeastern District of the Church of the Brethren. Cedar Creek Church of the Brethren in Citronelle, Ala., is opening its facilities for both clean-up volunteers and one team of child-care workers. Citronelle is just 35 miles north of Mobile, and can be a staging point for a number of southern Alabama and Mississippi communities. To volunteer to take part in this project, call 800-451-4407.

Shipments of relief materials from the warehouses at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., continue to the Gulf Coast, as well as to areas where displaced citizens are being relocated. Over 60,000 pounds of Church World Service blankets and Gift of the Heart Kits have been packed by Service Ministries staff and shipped to Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Arkansas.

Interchurch Medical Assistance, Inc. (IMA) has responded to a request from Church World Service for 20 IMA Medicine Boxes to help meet the basic health care needs of displaced people in two shelters in Louisiana. In this first-ever domestic response in the US, IMA is being supported by its pharmaceutical donors and receiving generous cash donations from its online constituency.

Two grants have been made from the Emergency Disaster Fund this week, in addition to an initial grant of $15,000, bringing to $45,000 the total given from the fund for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts so far.

An allocation of $25,000 supports the Emergency Response/Service Ministries relief efforts including deployment of Disaster Child Care volunteers, emergency training for new child care volunteers, support for Brethren Disaster Response volunteers at the Brethren Service Center, and support for Church of the Brethren congregations in Alabama, Louisiana, and other states responding to the needs of survivors.

An allocation of $5,000 provides funds for the Southern Plains District of the Church of the Brethren. The money will assist the district in providing aid to hurricane survivors being sheltered near two Church of the Brethren congregations in Louisiana.

To contribute to this effort, donate on-line (see below) or send a check made out to the Emergency Disaster Fund to 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120.

Source: 09/08/2005 Newsline
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